Humans, animals, organic objects and other entities generate an external electric field and gradients thereof which cause polarization, de-polarization and re-polarization phenomenon in cellular membranes. These phenomenon result in polarization states which can be detected by a detector device as described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/758,248 and 08/840,649, attached hereto as Appendices A and B. The background information with respect to dielectrokinesis effects and how they can be detected is thoroughly discussed in those applications attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference and thus, for the sake of brevity, such a discussion is not repeated here.
The present invention relates to an improvement to the detector and metering circuitry associated with the inventions described in those applications. In particular the circuitry shown in, for example, FIG. 5 of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/758,248 (Appendix A) includes an antenna 102 upon which the forces associated with dielectrokinesis effects act. The antenna 102 is connected to an optimal low pass filter F1, which outputs to a current detection device (in FIG. 5 shown as JFETs J1, J2, and J3). After the current detection JFETs, the current continues into a current meter, M1, and an optional piezo buzzer P1. The current detectors (JFETs J1, J2 and J3), together with the meter M1 and piezo buzzer P1 are used to detect the subtle currents on the antenna 102 which are induced by the dielectrokinesis effects.
Thus, in accordance with the description of FIG. 5 of application Ser. No. 08/758,248, the operator employs an antenna to sense the dielectrokinesis effects associated with the presence of an entity to be detected and thereby creates a very low level current in association with that detection. The low level current detector in FIG. 5 takes the low level current induced on the antenna 102 and passes it through the low pass filter F1 and then to the gate of the respective JFETs. If the current exceeds the gate threshold of operation for the respective JFETs, the JFETs open to thereby complete a circuit powered by battery B1 and including meter M1 and piezo buzzer P1. In this way, current induced on antenna 102 will control the operation of meters M1 and piezo buzzer P1 in order to thereby detect dielectrokinesis effects in the vicinity of the antenna 102 and display them (via meter M1 and piezo buzzer P1) to the operator.
The present invention is a circuit which is designed specifically to improve detection of the low level currents that are induced in the antenna by the dielectrokinesis effects of an unknown entity existing in the vicinity of the antenna. In particular, it is desirable to improve the distance in which the detector device can be accurately used to detect the unknown entity. That is, in detectors, increasing the distance that the detector device can unequivocally identify the presence of the entity is desirable. Unfortunately, as the distance between the detector and the detector entity increases, the signal strength received by detector due to the dielectrokinesis effects of the unknown entity are dramatically reduced and can thereby result in misidentifications of the presence of the entity. Since the current levels induced on antenna 102 can already be relatively low (at or below the JFET gating threshold), reductions in the current levels (and hence the signal to noise ratio) can have a dramatic impact on the operational characteristics including the maximum effective distance of detection.
In addition, the detector described with respect to Appendix A and B includes circuitry which is designed to sense the electric field in the vicinity of the detector caused by dielectrokinesis effects induced by the presence of the unknown entity. The detection occurs as a result of the induced current on the antenna 102 exceeding the gate threshold on the JFETs J1, J2, and J3. Current levels below the threshold will fail detection. This method can provide low sensitivity of operation since the operator will receive either a positive indication (via meter movement and piezo buzzing) if the current threshold is exceeded or no indication at all if it is not.